Unpacking the BFC Pay Travel Buddy
Gulf Insider Interviews Davis D. Parakal of BFC Pay
BFC Payments recently launched an advanced multi-currency Visa card – the BFC PAY TRAVEL BUDDY that offers international travellers the convenience of digital payments. The card features fast top-ups anywhere, instant currency conversion, worldwide shopping and dining in multiple currencies at any of Visa’s 80-plus million merchant partners worldwide, and provides cardholders access to Visa Platinum loyalty programs.
We got in touch with BFC Pay’s General Manager, Davis D. Parakal to find out more about the financial tool and its many benefits.
What was the idea behind launching the BFC Pay Travel Buddy?
Travel Buddy is a niche product we’ve brought to the Bahrain market, targeting the travel segment and international shoppers of the Kingdom. BFC has been established for over 100 years and is not a new brand in Bahrain, offering our customers unparalleled Forex services. Having understood this market through decades of experience, we set out to curate a digital product on top of that particular customer need (Forex). This led to the creation of Travel Buddy. Anyone who wants to use a currency other than the Bahraini Dinar can use this multi-currency card. It’s packed with a lot of economical solutions for the customer.
What are the key benefits that Travel Buddy offers?
Travel Buddy, is like I said, a multicurrency card. What this means is that customers can load money into the card through different methods – benefit pay or the Benefit Payment Gateway. We give the privilege to customers to choose what kind of currency they would want to save that into. Currently, we support exchanges to the US Dollar, Euro, AED, and Saudi Riyal. So customers can have the flexibility to move money between these particular ballots, which we offer. And the beauty of our product is all of this is done digitally. You don’t have to visit the centre or call anyone. You have complete control over your money and your card through our mobile application – BFC Pay. We can move money from BHD to USD on our application or reverse it in less than 30 seconds.
How is the user protected from foreign exchange volatility while using the card in other currencies?
When it comes to foreign currency, volatility is a major concern our customers have. Let’s assume I’m planning to visit London over the summer. Typically, I’d start planning early – places to visit, things to do, where to stay, the best deals on flight tickets, etc. At the same time, I would also start my financial planning early and buy GBP (Great Britain Pound) currency at the best rate and use the “lock-in” feature on the Travel Buddy application to store the currency. Even if the GBP fluctuates or the market remains volatile before my travel, I won’t lose any money and use the currency for all my purchases while I’m in enjoying London! Needless to say, this lock-in feature is the most promising one on Travel Buddy, making you immune to currency volatility.
What new features are in the pipeline for Travel Buddy?
The journey has just begun and there’s a lot to come. We are soon introducing Apple Pay on Travel Buddy along with Samsung Sync Pay. We are also working with Google to integrate Google Pay as a payment mode too. BFC Pay Travel Buddy will be collaborating with travel partners to give customers exclusive deals and packages.
How is BFC Pay differentiating itself from other digital payment solutions available in the market today?
It’s definitely a very competitive market. While working on this product, the BFC Payments team made sure that every single touchpoint of the customer is digital. The card is designed in a way that you can download the application on your mobile and get a virtual card in about two minutes. Bahrain is very well equipped with new technologies and the Government is supporting us in terms of EKYC, the most advanced artificial intelligence system which recognizes your identity through your CPR details.
After the customer receives the card, all the touchpoints are again digital. So the user experiences convenience in the way they want to use the Travel Buddy. We differentiate this experience from the rest of the market.
